September 28, 2022 – Respiratory testing at the point of care has been a common practice in the U.S. since the early 1980s when the first lateral flow tests for Group A strep were introduced, writes Jim Poggi in the latest issue of Repertoire. Their speed made a difference in initiating treatment, but most clinicians agreed that plated media had better sensitivity. Nonetheless, rapid strep tests, now including molecular platform options, have improved in performance and have become the standard of initial diagnosis.
Additional rapid respiratory tests followed. A multitude of influenza tests followed in various formats from visually read lateral flow to reader based lateral flow and finally a number of molecular assays. From a diagnosis viewpoint, it all seemed to be coming together to rapidly and effectively diagnose respiratory infections, select the proper treatment program and manage the patient back to health.
That is, until the COVID pandemic came along. Suddenly, the emergence of this novel pathogen in 2019 changed everything. It spread rapidly, creating a worldwide pandemic and healthcare crisis that continues to some extent to the present day. This summer, after COVID case trends had been flat in the U.S. for a few months, a new omicron subvariant, BA.5, has emerged and cases and hospitalizations are on the rise again. New COVID cases are now at the same level they were in September of 2021, with the only higher peak in the last 12 months taking place in February of 2022.